Pubgoers spend 54 cents in tax per pint in Britain, while in Spain and Germany this is less than 5 cents
- More than 80 heads of the UK’s leading beer and pub groups signed the letter
- The letter coincides with the European football championships
Britain’s biggest breweries and pub companies are calling for beer duty cuts and business rates reform.
More than 80 heads of Britain’s leading beer and pub companies have signed a letter from Emma McClarkin, the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, saying their sector ‘needs a fair recognition of its unique value ‘.
Signatories include the chairmen of breweries Adnams and Harvey’s and the CEOs of Fuller’s, Punch Pubs, JD Wetherspoon and Stonegate Group.
Call for change: More than 80 heads of Britain’s leading beer and pub companies have signed a letter saying their sector ‘needs honest recognition of its unique value’
The letter is addressed to Britain’s three main political party leaders and coincides with the start of the European football championships.
It noted that English and Scottish football fans will spend 54p in tax for every pint they buy during the tournament, while those in Spain and Germany will pay less than 5p.
“Our sector is among the highest taxed in the economy,” noted McClarkin, who quoted BBPA research and claimed that £1 in every £3 spent in pubs goes to HM Treasury.
“The upcoming Euro Championships will bring into sharp relief the extent to which beer continues to be overloaded,” she added.
Combined with high energy bills and other costs, the letter said pub owners will earn just 12p in profit on an average £4.80 pint in Britain.
In addition, it pleaded with the Government to make ‘urgent radical reforms’ to the business rates system, saying pubs pay up to four times as much as comparable businesses.
McClarkin said the 75 per cent rate cut for hospitality venues in England was ‘a lifeline without which many more pubs would close’.
The scheme will run until April 2025, after Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt extended it in last year’s autumn statement.
Recent data from accountancy firm Price Bailey shows that 769 pub businesses went bankrupt in 2023, the highest number in a decade and around 250 more than the previous year.
Pubs, bars and restaurants have faced a tough time over the past four years as Covid-related restrictions forced them to temporarily close their doors or limit opening hours and capacity levels.
When pandemic curbs ended, their business was hit hard by rising food, gas and electricity bills, pressure on consumers’ living costs and industrial action by railway workers.
McClarkin said the pub industry needed ‘a step change… to secure its future and promote and celebrate such an intrinsic part of British life that provides combined economic, social and cultural value to almost every community in the whole country.’
‘The beer and café sector is special, but it doesn’t need any special favours; there needs to be an honest recognition of its unique value.”